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Foreign Carmakers Turn Alabama Into An Automotive Force To Be Reckoned With

By Dale Buss

October 31, 2018

As a center of automotive-manufacturing expansion, few places are humming like Alabama. When schoolkids in Montgomery, Alabama, celebrated National Manufacturing Month in October by visiting local plants operated by Hyundai Motor Manufacturing and others, they took a field trip through what has become the car-making capital of the American South.

Consider Hyundai alone. The Korean manufacturer began building vehicles in Alabama in 2005 when Hyundai still wasn't much of a factor in the U.S. auto market, and now has about 2,700 full-time and 500 part-time employees working at its Montgomery complex. And now it plans to invest $388 million to expand and upgrade its engine-manufacturing operations there and create 50 more jobs.

MONTGOMERY - Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced that the Appalachian Regional Commission has approved a $1,500,000 grant to the Tombigbee Electric Cooperative for the Haleyville Fiber Infrastructure Project.

This project will help install 99 miles of new fiber construction which will provide internet access to approximately 252 businesses and over 1,500 households in Marion and Winston Counties.

"The internet is vital to economic development, health, education, and really all areas of our modern life. This grant will help extend broadband networks into some underserved areas in rural Alabama," Governor Ivey said. "I appreciate the efforts of Congressman Robert Aderholt and Tombigbee President Steve Foshee. Their leadership and hard work is moving our state forward. Expanding broadband internet is a key piece of my plan to increase the quality of life for all Alabamians, especially those in rural Alabama. I know many more projects like this are on the horizon and Tombigbee can serve as a shining example of success."

Sales: According to the
ValleyMLS.com, Gadsden-area home sales totaled 61 units during September, down 27.4 percent from 84 sales in the same month a year earlier. Similarly, September sales were down 31.5 percent compared to 89 sales in August. Results were 14.8 percent below the five-year September average of 72 sales. Two more resources to review:
Quarterly Report and
Annual Report.

Inventory: Homes listed for sale in the Gadsden area during September totaled 511 units, an increase of 3.4 percent from September 2017's 494 units, and an increase of 2 percent from August 2018's 501 units. September months of supply totaled 8.4 months, a 42.8 percent increase from September 2017's 5.9 months of supply. September's months of supply also increased from August's 5.6 months of supply.